Inevitable Capital Series: Irena Spazzapan, Systemiq
This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores various capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.
Irena Spazzapan is Managing Partner at Systemiq Capital, the climate-tech VC spin-off from the world's largest pure-play climate advisory firm, Systemiq. Irena built the current team and led most investments in Fund I, including companies like Charm Industrial and Brimstone. And in 2022, she led the spin-out of Systemiq Capital from Systemiq with the launch of Fund II, which continues to back early-stage companies across the UK, EU, and North America.
In this episode, Irena and Jason have a great discussion about the origin story of Systemiq Capital, their approach to climate investing, and how they evolved over time. We also cover a bevy of related topics, including what's been happening in the macro, some of the bottlenecks that are holding up progress, what we can do to accelerate progress and, of course, where Systemiq Capital and early-stage climate tech innovation generally fit in. Enjoy the show!
In this episode, we cover:
- [2:17] An overview of Systemiq Capital
- [3:17] The fund's origin story spun out of McKinsey
- [5:17] Irena's background and professional journey
- [7:26] The impetus for Systemiq's investing efforts
- [10:49] The fund's investing matrix and their rationale for it
- [14:42] The role of family offices in Systemiq's pilot fund
- [16:43] Systemiq's goals for its pilot fund
- [18:36] Systemiq's views on impact vs returns
- [21:21] Why are LPs mostly climate folks?
- [24:36] The working relationships and collaboration between Systemiq and Systemiq Capital
- [27:27] How learnings from Systemiq's Fund I informed Fund II
- [31:27] The importance of timing and impact on returns
- [33:38] Irena's thoughts on regulation and upcoming directives
- [35:45] Risks Systemiq is comfortable taking vs. non-starters
- [37:13] FOAK projects and Irena's views on how they should be funded
- [40:06] Differences between real assets experts vs. Silicon Valley founders
- [44:19] Differences between climate tech innovation in Europe vs. the US
- [47:05] Challenges of getting financially-driven institutional capital allocators to invest in climate
- [52:32] Systemiq's current deployment status and returns
- [54:05] Types of capital Systemiq doesn't take and Irena's thoughts on the topic generally
- [59:21] How Systemiq measures and tracks success
- [01:01:16] Irena's theory of change
Get connected:
Jason Jacobs Twitter / LinkedIn
Irena Spazzapan LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on July 11, 2023 (Published on July 26, 2023)
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant